We Can't Always Win
by Soapy Water xx
Summary: Sonic decides it's been too long since he took on Eggman. After finding his secret base, Sonic becomes seriously injured and is left unable to fight alone. Can his friends save him this time?  Set after Sonic Heroes, but before Sonic Next Gen. Shadouge.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N: Disclaimer - I do not own Sonic in any way shape or form. I think that honor goes to SEGA. I've merely played with the characters. **

**Second Sonic fic that I've done... I don't know how this'll go. Read and Review, maybe? **

Chapter 1 – Lost Emotions

"_Time to die, Sonic." _

Amy Rose awoke from her dream – or rather, nightmare – with a start. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was gasping for breath as she attempted to convince herself that it was only a dream – that her beloved Sonic was still alive and well.

The pink hedgehog climbed from her bed, rubbing her eyes and quickly moving to her bathroom to change. The sound of a shower being turned on echoed through the door into her small hotel room.

Since Knuckles the Echidna had gone back to his post guarding the Master Emerald at Angel Island, Sonic had disappeared from public view. Sonic disliked the attention he received anyway, but since Knuckles had left, he'd decided to take a break and spend some time on his own.

However, as Amy was completely and utterly in love with Sonic, she worried. She had frequent nightmares, fearing the evil Doctor Eggman would kill him when he least expected it. She worried that he was lonely and alone, maybe even lost.

Amy finished her shower quickly, drying off and re-entering her hotel room. She sighed and sat down heavily on the bed, closing her eyes and putting her head in her hands for a moment. The only sound that could be heard was the constant dripping of the shower hose.

A second later, Amy looked up and glanced at the screen of her red, chunky cell phone. The pink hedgehog's annoyance increased and she let out an annoyed sigh.

"Sonic! Where _are_you?"

"Whoo-hoo!"

A blue blur moved across the desert landscape at a shocking speed, bouncing against ancient ruins and speeding along.

Sonic beamed to himself as he watched the landscape blur around him – he was silently impressed by his own speed. He nimbly dodged a cactus, before bouncing against yet another ancient ruin and moving along even faster.

"Sonic, wait up!"

Sonic turned around, running backwards along the makeshift road, sand flying up into the air as he moved. The blue hedgehog's eyes focused on a red speck in the distance, and he quickly realised that it was a small plane, which was flying along as fast as it could.

The plane quickly closed in on Sonic, as he had slowed down to allow it to catch up. A delighted Tails 'Miles' Prower waved at Sonic, a beam plastered to his yellow face.

"Hey Tails! Long time no see!" Sonic yelled enthusiastically, holding up a hand in greeting.

"Sonic!" Tails called back. The plane formed a complicated loop-de-loop before he spoke again. "Listen to this!"

Tails tossed down a red walkie-talkie, which Sonic caught easily. He adjusted the volume before the message began to play.

"_Sonic__… __we__'__ve __received __information __regarding __the__current __location __of __a __suspect __named __Doctor __Eggman. __You __were __asked __to __be __informed __if __anything __arose __within __the __agency__… __report __to __GUN __HQ __in __Westopolis __by __high __noon. __Agent __Shadow __out.__" _

"He's so boring when he sends messages," Sonic mused. "Hey, looks like I get to see Egghead again pretty soon… you fancy coming along, Tails?"

"I would Sonic, but I told Cosmo I'd meet her at Wave Ocean tomorrow at one… if you need backup, I can cancel," the two tailed fox said, looking down at Sonic with an earnest expression.

Sonic chuckled. "Naw, I'm good Tails… you enjoy yourself with Cosmo…" Sonic smirked broadly, before looking up at the sky. The sun was nearing the western skies. "Looks like I'll need to get a move on if I'm gonna be in Westopolis by nightfall. See ya around buddy."

Before Tails could respond, Sonic picked up his speed and his form blurred. A wide grin was painted onto the blue hedgehog's face as he raced away into the distance.

_Tick __tock. __Tick __tock. __Tick __tock. __Tick __tock._

Shadow the Hedgehog looked up from the papers before him, ruby red eyes emotionless as ever as he glanced at the clock.

Despite his cool demeanour, the hedgehog was actually counting down the seconds until he got to see his best friend, Rouge, once again. Although, even Shadow knew that he didn't think of Rouge as 'just a friend.'

The hedgehog looked down again, scribbling something on the piece of paper in front of him. He looked up again – the clock was ticking away – and it was barely a minute until midnight.

Shadow stared at the clock, counting down the seconds.

_36,__35,__34,__33,__32__… _

Jet the Hawk slammed down his cup of coffee onto his desk. The murky brown contents of the mug spilled over, dripping down the side of his cream mug. A low growl of irritation came from the hawk.

_28,__27,__26,__25,__24__… _

Jet rose from his seat, grumbling under his breath as he entered the kitchen unit attached to the office. He grabbed a towel and returned to his desk, mopping up the spilled coffee.

_17,__16,__15,__14,__13__… _

Jet saw Shadow's eyes fixated on him, and waved unsurely. When Shadow didn't return the gesture, the grumpy hawk scoffed under his breath and put the towel back in the kitchen. He returned to his desk once again, tapping down on his keyboard.

_5,__4,__3,__2,__1__ – _

A loud crash resonated throughout the all but empty room. The white door crashed at it hit the wall behind it, and an angry – no, _furious_GUN Commander entered the room.

"SHADOW!"

Briefly, Shadow thought that Jet would enjoy telling the other members of Team Chaotix about this.

"Why do I have a smirking blue hedgehog hammering on my office door!" he yelled.

"You'd have to ask him," Shadow replied, voice monotonous as always. The GUN Commander didn't seem to like Shadow's cool, unaffected answer, and he could almost see steam coming from the Commander's ears.

A second later, Sonic appeared behind the Commander, leaning against the doorframe heavily. His red running sneakers seemed much bigger than usual, and he whistled innocently, making the angry Commander jump violently, whirling around.

"Hey Shads," Sonic waved enthusiastically. "Long time no see."

"Sonic," Shadow replied with a brief nod.

Sonic grinned. "I got your message."

"I can tell. You don't normally appear in GUN HQ just for a social call," Shadow said, quirking an eyebrow in amusement.

"What can I say – I'm a sucker for finding out where Egghead's trying to hatch his schemes," Sonic grinned.

"Quite," Shadow replied, trying to hide his growing amusement.

"But your old boss up here doesn't seem to be thrilled at my turning up," Sonic gestured to the angry – no, now he was furious – GUN Commander with his thumb.

"Shadow," the Commander said, voice a deathly calm. Shadow could see the rage brewing behind his eyes, but he didn't fear for his job. He knew fully well that he was one of the best Agents in GUN – they would be stupid to get rid of him. "Could you join me in my office for a moment? Mr Sonic, I'll tend to you shortly."

Shadow nodded, and Sonic beamed. "See you in a bit!" the mischievous hedgehog called to Shadow's retreating figure.

Shadow was led straight into the Commander's office, and he took a seat on his favourite white leather chair. He leaned back, looking relaxed but still somehow businesslike.

"What is he doing here?" the Commander practically shouted.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, code name Blue Blur, is one of the best people to go out on this case," Shadow replied. "He's taken out Doctor Eggman more times than we can count – which makes me think that he is the best person for this case."

"But, Agent Shadow," the Commander replied, a vein pulsing in his temple, "in case you haven't noticed, _Sonic__the__Hedgehog__does__not__work__for__us.__" _

"Exactly," Shadow replied.

The GUN Commander seemed beyond confused by this statement, staring blankly at Shadow. The dark hedgehog sighed heavily, and elaborated.

"Sonic will do this for free, and he will do it twice as well as anybody from here would – well, apart from me," he smirked as he said this, glancing up slightly as he spoke.

The office had a high ceiling with an open skylight that showed the commander the stars. Shadow had noticed Sonic as soon as he'd entered the room from above – but it was evident that the Commander had not.

Sonic smirked from above, knowing that Shadow had seen him. He held onto the piece of rope supporting his body a little tighter, as it was starting to slip a little.

"Hmm," the Commander mused. There was a long pause, in which Sonic dangled. He didn't mind about whether he got the Commander's permission or not. He'd go ahead anyway. Eggman was his target, his arch nemesis.

"Okay Shadow," the Commander said. "Make sure he doesn't let me down."

"Okay."

Shadow made as if to exit the room, but stopped short. Being the Ultimate Life-form, Shadow's hearing was much more sensitive than any other being's. He'd heard Sonic's rope being strained, and glanced up slightly just in time to see Sonic's rope fray and then snap.

The Ultimate Life-form – while incredibly fast – wasn't fast enough to stop Sonic falling onto the floor in the middle of the office.

The blue hedgehog was fast though, and as he was about to fall, he triangle jumped, clinging to the wall. Then, he bounced from wall to wall, finally soaring upwards and vacating the room via the open window. Shadow watched this from the corner of his eye, silently impressed by Sonic's quick movements.

The Ultimate Life-form exited the room without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N: Disclaimer – I do not own Sonic, or Sonic X, or anything related to Sonic. At all. Ever. **

**Well, I got quite a response… well, no reviews, but 35 hits : ) and one person put the story on alert (THANKS FOR THAT!) Been watching Sonic X today does anybody else love that programme? **

**Reviews would be loverly, I do have anonymous reviews enabled… please? Just one review? **

Chapter 2 – Kidnapped

"Woo-hoo!"

Sonic's reaction was suitably childish as he ran around the room in a circle, his form blurred as always. He stopped to lean against the doorframe on his elbow, the toe of his red running shoe bouncing against the floor.

"Can you ever stay still?" Shadow demanded grumpily.

Sonic smirked. "Not really."

The black and red hedgehog was irritated that he couldn't see Rouge yet – he had to brief Sonic on the location of Eggman, as well as the backup he would have waiting outside the base if the situation proved to be harder than Sonic thought.

"We've got a rough estimate – it could be more and it could be less – of the amount of robots that Doctor Eggman has built within his base. At the moment, it looks to be about twenty Shadow Androids," he paused to narrow his eyes and 'humph' in annoyance. Shadow was very irritated at the fact that the Doctor had managed to clone his abilities. "Ten Metal Sonics… and a large array of his weaker robots."

"Piece o' cake," Sonic said, yawning and leaning against the doorframe even more, allowing the wood to support all of his weight.

"Altogether, we're estimating around three hundred droids…" Shadow continued as if Sonic hadn't spoken. "As well as his usual robots, we've received information regarding his 'E' range of robots – meaning that a later version of the Egg Emperor is expected to be somewhere in his base, as well as a more advanced version of Omega."

"Humph," Sonic said, a little sore at the mention of the Egg Emperor. The large green robot was a source of annoyance to the blue hedgehog since it had almost defeated him a couple of years previously. "Still, this'll be easy."

"We also expect that he has at least two of the Chaos Emeralds held within his base."

"Awesome," Sonic replied. "I like a challenge."

"Nothing can deter you can it Sonic?"

Sonic simply smiled sagely in response.

A knock on the door of the office interrupted the two – and Shadow immediately dashed across the room, opening the door with a little more force than strictly necessary.

Standing outside the door, was a very familiar bat – Rouge. Shadow was silently thrilled to see her, but he merely nodded at her, unemotional as always. Rouge grinned, and gracefully entered the room, the door swinging closed behind her.

"Nice place you got here," was all she said, eyeing the cracks in the walls, the sweaty blue carpet on the ground and the thick black drapes covering the curtains. The room was unnaturally humid – the bat actually had an urge to pull the drapes from over the curtains and rip the carpet away from the floor.

"Humph," Shadow muttered.

Rouge seemed to notice Sonic for the first time, and a beam grew on her face as she waved at him. "Hey Sonic, long time no see."

"You could say that," Sonic replied, tapping his foot on the ground. He was starting to grow uncomfortable staying still – he wanted to run, take down Eggman, and then resume his hunt for the remaining Chaos Emeralds, all of which had been strewn out into various places on Mobius.

"I'll get Wave to get you some form of transport ready tomorrow…" Shadow told his blue friend. "Until then, you can go… run, or whatever it is you do."

Sonic grinned. "Running sounds like a plan!" he said, before shooting from the room without another word.

Rouge turned to Shadow, who shook his head wearily, straightening some papers on the office desk. The white bat said nothing, but Shadow could sense that she was watching him.

Then he looked up.

She smirked. "How was your day at the office then?"

Shadow let a smile slide onto his face. "Well…" he began.

XXX

Amy Rose sped up as she heard the first boom of thunder.

It was already raining heavily in downtown Westopolis – lightening forks slashed across the sky, lighting up the dark alleys and illuminating Amy's soaked form. She was panting slightly, but still running as fast as she could through the streets, well aware of the fact that it wasn't a good idea to be outside in downtown Westopolis at night.

Amy had bored of sitting in a hotel room, awaiting Sonic's return. She'd decided to visit the GUN HQ in uptown Westopolis and see if they had any information that they were willing to share about the blue hedgehog's location.

She progressed further, nearing the invisible line between uptown Westopolis and downtown Westopolis – but just as she was about to cross over between the two territories, a mechanical whirring behind her caused her to freeze.

The pink hedgehog turned slowly, green eyes wide as she tried to focus her vision on the darkness.

A second later, a black and white robot appeared from the shadows, its lone eye focused on her.

The robot was large, with a red body and black head. It had two large pistols attached to its arms, as well as hidden machine guns under its large metal hands. Amy moved backwards into the darkness, alarm clear in her eyes. She hoped that she would be able to confuse the robot in the darkness, but part of her knew that it was a lost cause.

This was one of the E-100 robots designed by Doctor Eggman.

"Sensors-indicate-friend-of-Sonic-the-Hedgehog-is-close," the robot said in one go. "Changing-guns-to-stun-setting."

"Oh!"

Amy gasped, dodging the first load of bullets. Upon closer inspection, Amy would have realised that they weren't bullets, but tiny little darts, dossed in a mild sedative that would keep a Mobian knocked out for up to six hours.

She rolled bringing up her hammer and swinging it down towards the robot's head with all the force in her body. She stopped short, realising that the hammer hadn't penetrated the robot's metal shell at all – it wasn't even dented.

She needed to run.

The pink hedgehog broke into a sprint, breathing heavy as she shot over into Uptown Westopolis. The robot followed, moving almost twice as fast as the pink hedgehog. She knew that she was unable to win this fight without help, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Hi-Ya!" Amy yelled, performing a pink Tornado over the robot. It staggered slightly, looking as if it was about to fall, but quickly recovering, and shooting forwards after the retreating hedgehog.

"SONIC!" Amy shrieked, looking over her shoulder and seeing the robot raise its guns again, aiming for her back.

Her shriek died in her throat as one of the little darts hit her in the back. The pink hedgehog sank to the floor, the sedative taking effect almost immediately.

E-101 picked up Amy, swinging her limp body over its shoulder. The robot would have been smug – if it had been capable of showing emotions.

"Target – received."

XXX


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N: Disclaimer: Don't own STH. SEGA does. **

**Wow, since my please last chapter I got… three reviews! YAY! Thanks for that – you've decided to make me update again. Sonamy shippers might be a little pleased by this chap… but this story probably won't be Sonamy. Sorry : ) I'm a Shadouge shipper myself. **

**Enjoy this chapter… don't worry, expect a bit of action within the next couple of chapters. **

**Also – I'm aiming for daily updates, hopefully. I've already got seven (well six, almost finished seven) written, but if you want to see something, lemme know. **

**Enjoy the chap! **

Chapter 3 – Waking Up

Any outsider would think that Sonic the Hedgehog didn't sleep.

With all of his enemies, Sonic didn't like sleeping in busy areas – not towns, or cities, or even top secret locations. He could be considered paranoid, but in reality, he was just very, very careful.

The hedgehog awoke quickly – he didn't enjoy sleeping, it meant that he wasn't moving. Despite his body a little stiff from his rest, his eyes were clear and focused, even at such an early hour. However, Sonic was used to awaking early – he slept on the mountains, near the top, but not quite – so that he could watch the sunrise.

"Wow," he said to himself, always awed at the sight of the ruby red sun rising over the clouds in the distance. A second later, the image was gone, and it was the start of a new day.

Sonic raced across the countryside at a shocking speed once more. The mountains were a little distance away from Downtown Westopolis, but not too far. The journey would probably take Sonic about half an hour – a normal Mobian would have taken days to make even half the distance.

The blue hedgehog stopped at a dingy little bed and breakfast in Downtown Westopolis, handing the greasy looking man in charge a ten dollar bill, before going up to his room and quickly using the bathroom to freshen up.

He put his gloves in the sink, sloshing the water around them, trying to rid them of dirt. He squirted some of the antibacterial hand wash into the basin too, and attempted to clean them.

Once he had freshened up completely, Sonic retreated from the bathroom, gloves on hands. There was a little bit of grub remaining on the fingertips, but it was nothing noticeable.

A couple of minutes later, Sonic had signed out of the bed and breakfast, much to the confusion of the receptionist.

XXX

About fifteen minutes later, Sonic arrived back at the GUN HQ, making his way through the building to Shadow's office. He rose his hand to knock on the door, but a familiar voice stopped him short.

"Hey Sonic," Wave the Swallow called.

The blue hedgehog turned slightly, a smile forming on his face. He attempted to hide his feelings of annoyance towards the Swallow, knowing that she had changed since she had tampered with his gears during his time racing.

"Hey Wave," he replied. "What's happening? Shads told me you'd fix me up a ride for getting to Egghead's base."

"I sure did… but you probably shouldn't disturb him. Rouge is in there with him… she has been for the past twenty minutes."

"Right," Sonic replied. "Fancy showing me this ride then?"

"Sure do," Wave replied. "Follow me."

The pair made their way down several flights of stairs and found themselves in the basement. Wave immediately moved to the wall, pressing down on a few bricks and waiting. A second later, a keypad appeared on the opposite wall – Wave quickly moved over to it and stamped in numerous numbers. A moment later, the entire wall seemed to disappear.

Behind it, there was a fully fledged runway. Numerous large ships, planes and cars were parked in certain places, and several mechanics were working away on the vehicles.

"Wow."

"I know," Wave grinned cockily. "This way."

She moved further down into the roofed runway, and eventually she stopped at a large silver plane. It reminded Sonic of the X-Tornado – but he didn't voice this. Wave took her vehicles very seriously – and her rivalry with Tails wasn't something you wanted to get involved with.

"Awesome!" Sonic said enthusiastically. He moved towards the plane.

"Ah-ah-ah," Wave stopped him, tossed a set of keys towards him.

Sonic opened the door and jumped in, testing out the controls. He looked over the weapons, impressed with the cannons and machine guns that had been added.

"WAVE!"

Sonic's examination was cut off – he looked up to see Mighty the Armadillo racing towards Wave, an alarmed look in his eyes.

"What's up Mighty?" Wave replied, noticing his obvious alarm.

"We've got a case in Downtown Westopolis. An alleyway down there is covered with hundreds of little sedative darts, as well as some scrap metal... and some drops of blood."

"What!" Wave gasped. "Sorry Sonic, this'll have to wait. I've gotta check this out."

"Sure thing, I'll just go and see Shadow…" Sonic disappeared in a blur of blue fur.

XXX

"Ugh…"

Amy's head pounded as she slowly came around. Her vision was hazy, colours blurring together as she attempted to focus. Her memory was blurred – she remembered a robot, but barely anything else. The pink hedgehog gently shook her head, and groaned when the pounding seemed to grow worse.

"Ah, excellent, you're awake."

Even in her semi conscious state, Amy recognised that voice.

Doctor Eggman.

"Oh no," Amy muttered. She spoke up, a little louder. "Why am I here?"

"Because, my dear Amy, you are a close friend of Sonic's, and perhaps one of the… how do I put this… weaker ones."

"Hey!" Amy snapped.

"Anyway," Eggman continued, ignoring the angered hedgehog. "You needn't worry, Sonic will be joining us here soon."

Amy looked at the evil mastermind, silently calculating.

"You've got something planned," she said. "You're using me as bait aren't you? You've got some kind of hideous robot waiting to use on my _darling_Sonic!"

"All will soon be revealed," Eggman replied. "E101, E102, go and ready Egg Delta for attack."

"Yes master," replied the robots, before exiting the large room.

Amy decided it would be a good idea to examine her surroundings. She took in the large room, noticing the controls for the base – which were hidden behind a reinforced wall of glass. The walls were metal shutters, with large metal doors too. Amy knew it would be next to impossible to escape from the base without help.

"Hmm," Eggman mused from where he stood, examining a screen through his dark blue glasses. "No movement from Sonic yet… but there will be. He'll come. He'll definitely come…"

XXX

"HOLY SHIT!"

It was rare that Shadow the Hedgehog cursed. He'd been to hell and back, lived through things that would have killed anybody else. He'd learned to control his anger and use it in productive ways.

But he couldn't hold back his mild cursing as Sonic the Hedgehog charged into his office without knocking – whilst he was… distracted, shall we say.

Rouge's lips immediately left Shadow's as the door slammed against the wall, the loud crash alerting them both to Sonic's presence. Both the hedgehog and the bat found themselves blushing violently.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" Shadow spat angrily.

"Haven't you heard of PDA?" Sonic replied, smirking.

"…Doing private things in a private office are not PDA," Shadow replied, frustrated. His blush wasn't disappearing – he found himself becoming even more flustered.

"What do you need, Sonic?" Rouge asked.

"The location," he replied airily, leaning against the doorframe.

"Right."

Rouge turned to the computer on the desk, hammering in several pass codes before she pressed a button on the keyboard.

"It's printing across the hall," Rouge told Sonic. "The printer nearest the window, the white one. Can't miss it – it makes a right racket as well."

"Awesome," Sonic said, exiting the room. Once he was across the corridor, he opened the door and yelled as loud as he could. "LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN SHADOW, AND DON'T DO ANYTHING I WOULDN'T!"

Shadow scowled violently.

A second later, Sonic re-entered the office, just as the phone on Shadow's desk rang. Immediately, the red and black hedgehog picked up, muttering a quick 'hello?'

"_Agent __Shadow,__" _the voice at the other end of the phone said. _"__We __have __a __situation__… __a __Miss __Amy __Rose __has __been __reported __missing __by __a __Miss __Cream __the __Rabbit__… __she __was __last __seen __running __through __Downtown __Westopolis__… __last __night. __Also, __a __tuft __of __pink __fur __was __found __at __Crime __Scene __23071__… __it__'__s __been __analysed, __and __it __belongs __to __Miss __Amy __Rose__… __we __need __you __and __Agent __Rouge __down __there __immediately.__" _

"Yes sir," Shadow replied. He put the phone down heavily.

"There's a situation Sonic, Amy –"

"I know," Sonic replied. "I heard."

"I'll take Sonic down to the runway… I guess you probably want to get going anyway?" Rouge asked, also having heard the entire conversation.

"Yeah, I do," Sonic replied. "Let me know if there's any news about Amy?"

"Will do," Shadow replied, before seeming to disappear in a black and red blur.

"C'mon Sonic," Rouge said. "I'll take you down to Jet… he'll get you an earpiece and stuff."

"'Kay," Sonic replied, a little vacant.

Inwardly, he was a little worried for Amy – though he'd never admit it. He knew – despite her love for playing the damsel in distress – that she wouldn't just disappear like this. She didn't like to hurt the people that she loved – and that loved her in return.

Sonic's thoughts were heavy as he disappeared into the elevator.

XXX

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	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Sonic the Hedgehog and co. or any other related characters/settings/etc. SEGA owns Sonic.

A.N: I know it's been a bit of a while since my last update… I claimed daily, I know, but I just couldn't find the time to update. The chapters have been written, so there isn't an excuse. Please enjoy this one : )

Also: I had someone say about paragraphs and italics being dodgy in the first couple of chaps. Hopefully, I've fixed that problem now, but give me a shout if it's still acting up and I'll try again. Awkward MS Word. Grr.

**UPDATE: I'm so sorry about the late update, I meant to upload this last week… I actually thought I had, until I realised I'd had no reviews. **

**SORRY GUYS! Hope you enjoy it anyway! : ) **

AND MANY THANKS TO REVIEWERS! I AM ABOUT TO REPLY TO REVIEWS NOW!

Review again, maybe?

XXX

Chapter 4 – The Base

Sonic had known Doctor Eggman for most of his life – so he was greatly familiar with the scientist's love of dramatics.

However, even Sonic hadn't anticipated this – the large metal dome with no windows, and numerous visible defences. Sonic couldn't even imagine what kind of invisible defensives the Doctor would have – but he didn't need to.

"Jet?" Sonic spoke into the mouthpiece of his communication headset. "What kind of defences am I up against here?"

"I'd say laser grid," Jet replied immediately. Sonic could hear his fingers typing quickly on a keyboard. "Barbed wire meshing, motion activated machine guns… a _cannon_on the roof, a couple of robots, some with snipers… that's about it."

Sonic smirked at Jet's sarcastic words.

"What about the inside…?" he asked.

"Another laser grid – two. One's visible, the other isn't. The whole point is that you dodge the visible grid and find yourself being fried by the invisible grid instead," Jet summarised. "Once you're past that, there's a line of robots, all of which have alarms inside them. If you destroy the robots, it sets off an alarm and more robots are sent to the sector."

"Right," Sonic replied.

There was a pause.

"Sonic," Jet said. "I know you enjoy relying on your speed and strength when you ambush Egghead… but for this mission, you might want to try out your stealth thing…"

"Yeah…"

Another awkward pause.

"Well, here goes nothing," Sonic beamed, grabbing the goggles that Jet had supplied. They made the invisible lasers visible to the wearer. Then, Sonic placed them over his eyes, and jumped from the plane, arms spread wide.

He could see numerous laser beams crossing over one another, and dodged them easily. Sonic landed on the ground, the only sound was a little 'thud' as his weight hit the concrete steps before the base.

"Any ideas on the pass code?" Sonic whispered.

"0-1-5-2-7-6-4-8-9-3-2," Jet replied.

Sonic stamped in the numbers, entered the base.

From there, he knew exactly what to do as he triangle jumped against the walls, easily avoiding the lethal lasers. Once he was past the grid, Sonic stopped and examined his surroundings.

He was at a 'crossroads' if you like. He could go left, right, or straight on. Jet seemed to sense Sonic's dilemma.

"Left, you've got the robots and it leads to the robot labs… right, there's the storage for built robots, and the control room for the base… straight on, there's a dead end. It's built to trick intruders into thinking that there's something straight on."

"Kay," Sonic grinned. "Let's try right first then."

Sonic dashed along the corridor, noticing everything. He avoided the cameras, dodged patrolling robots and used his stealth to the best of his ability.

Finally, Sonic came across the robot storage. It was a long, dark room, filled with capsules containing Metal Sonics, Shadow Androids, and numerous other models of robot. Sonic moved slowly along the length of the room, resisting the urge to destroy the Shadow Androids and Metal Sonics.

"Sonic…" the headphone crackled. Sonic's expression changed to confusion. "Take… off…"

The headphone crackled and Sonic found himself clutching his ear in pain as an electrical current passed through his head. The blue hedgehog let out a noise of pain, as the voltage of electricity seemed to increase.

"Argh!"

Finally, the current stopped, and Sonic couldn't seem to move. Darkness swam before the hedgehog's vision, and he found himself drifting – the sound of maniacal laughter ringing in his ears.

XXX

"Sonic!"

Amy watched with alarm as the blue hedgehog's unconscious form was bound tightly with thick ropes. His head drooped once he was vertical, and Eggman's glee was hard to miss as he bounced around the room, enthusiasm obvious in his every step.

"That was much easier than I anticipated," Eggman mused. "Silly hedgehog… did he really think breaking into my base would be that simple?"

"What have you done to him?" Amy said, trying to stay calm, all the while her eyes fixated on Sonic's limp form.

"A large voltage of electricity channelled through an earpiece was enough to knock him out," Eggman replied, beaming. "No lasting damage… I don't think…"

"If there is, I will make you pay," Amy snarled, eyes blazing with anger.

"Oh will you?" Eggman smirked. "I don't see how you could, my dear," Eggman smirked.

The evil genius disappeared from the room, E101, 102 and 103 following behind him. E104 stood at the entrance of the room, focused on Amy and Sonic.

The pink hedgehog turned to her blue friend and let out a heavy sigh, wishing she was capable of moving so that she could touch his cheek in a gesture of comfort.

"Oh Sonic… what are we gonna do?"

XXX

Meanwhile, at the GUN HQ, Rouge and Shadow had just arrived back from examining a crime scene. Wave had taken the pieces of scrap metal for examination, and the tufts of Amy's fur had been taken to a lab for closer inspection.

The bat and hedgehog made their way back up to Shadow's office, hoping to make up for their missed private time.

"Shadow! Rouge! We have a problem!"

Shadow and Rouge groaned at the same time, turning to see Jet running towards them, concern the only emotion on his face. His feathers were obviously ruffled, stuck up in green tufts.

"What's –"

"It's Sonic… Eggman channelled an electric current through his earpiece strong enough to knock him out… I tried to warn him but Eggman had managed to block the signal from me… I think he's in trouble."

"Duh," Rouge muttered.

"Come on," Shadow muttered angrily, turning around. "We need to go and see what's happened…"

"Humph," Rouge glared at the wall, following her partner down the nearest flight of stairs. "I sure hope we're getting paid overtime for this," she muttered to herself.

**A.N: Review, maybe? **


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